One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia's sparsely populated Far East early on Wednesday, causing tsunamis over four feet across the Pacific coast and sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.
People were advised to move to higher ground around much of the Pacific coast and warned that the potential tsunami danger may last for more than a day. Most places where tsunami waves have already washed ashore have reported no significant damage so far.
A tsunami 1.3 metres (4.3 feet) high reached a port in Japan's northern Iwate prefecture at 1:52 pm (0452 GMT), Japan's weather agency said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) kept its tsunami alerts that waves of up to three metres (9.8 feet) were expected along Japan's Pacific coast, after a magnitude-8.8 earthquake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
But higher waves were still arriving, said Shiji Kiyomoto, an earthquake and tsunami response official at JMA.
A tsunami of 50 centimeters (1.6 feet) was detected at the Ishinomaki port in northern Japan, according to JMA. White waves washed up to the shoreline on Japan's Hokkaido in the north and Ibaraki and Chiba, just northeast of Tokyo, in footage aired on Japan's NHK public television.
Tsunami waves over five feet were reported in Kahului, on the north-central coast of Maui, while four-foot waves struck Haleiwa on Oahu’s north shore, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Waves less than a foot (under 30 centimeters) above tide levels were observed in the Alaskan communities of Amchitka and Adak, said Dave Snider, tsunami warning coordinator with the National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska.
Russian regions report quake damage
Ports on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia near the quake’s epicenter flooded as residents fled inland. Cars jammed streets and highways in Honolulu hours before tsunami waves were expected.
Russian authorities said a tsunami hit and flooded the port town of Severo-Kurilsk, while local media said one of between three and four metres high was recorded in the Elizovsky district of Kamchatka.
A video posted on Russian social media showed buildings in the town submerged in seawater. Authorities said the population of around 2,000 people was evacuated. Several people were injured in Russia by the quake, state media reported, but none seriously.
The quake at 8:25 a.m. Japan time had a preliminary magnitude of 8.0, Japan and US seismologists said. The US Geological Survey later updated its measurement to 8.8 magnitude and the USGS said the quake occurred at a depth of 20.7 kilometers (13 miles).
The quake was centered about 119 kilometers (74 miles) east-southeast from the Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which has a population of 180,000, on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Multiple aftershocks as strong as 6.9 magnitude followed.
The first tsunami wave hit the coastal area of Severo-Kurilsk, the main settlement on Russia’s Kuril Islands in the Pacific, according to the local governor Valery Limarenko. He said residents were safe and staying on high ground until the threat of a repeat wave was gone.
The quake caused damage to buildings and cars swayed in the streets in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, which also had power outages and mobile phone service failures. Russian news agencies quoting the regional Health Ministry saying several people sought medical help in Kamchatka after the earthquake, but no serious injuries were reported.
"The walls were shaking," a Kamchatka resident told state media Zvezda.
"It's good that we packed a suitcase, there was one with water and clothes near the door. We quickly grabbed it and ran out... It was very scary," she said.
Among the world's strongest recorded quakes
The earthquake appeared to be the strongest anywhere in the world since the March 2011 earthquake off northeast Japan that was 9.0 magnitude and caused a massive tsunami that set off meltdowns at a nuclear power plant. Only a few stronger earthquakes have ever been measured around the world.
The tsunami alert disrupted transportation in Japan. Ferries connecting Hokkaido and Aomori on the northern tip of Japan’s Honshu island were suspended, as well as those connecting Tokyo and nearby islands, and some local train operations were suspended or delayed, according to operators. Sendai airport temporarily closed its runway.
Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said so far no injuries or damages have been reported. The agency, in response to the tsunami alert, issued an evacuation advisory to more than 900,000 residents in 133 municipalities along Japan’s Pacific coast, from Hokkaido to Okinawa.
Japanese nuclear power plants reported no abnormalities. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which operates the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, said about 4,000 workers are taking shelter on higher ground at the plant complex while monitoring remotely to ensure plant safety.
Philippine authorities warned provinces and towns along the eastern coast facing the Pacific of possible tsunami waves of less than 1 meter (3 feet) and advised people to stay away from the beach and coastal areas.
“It may not be the largest of waves, but these can continue for hours and expose people swimming in the waters to danger,” Teresito Bacolcol of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology told The Associated Press.
Mexico’s navy warned that tsunami waves will start reaching the northern coast in Ensenada, near California, at around 02:22 a.m. Wednesday local time, and waves could progress along the Pacific coast to Chiapas state, around 07:15 a.m. local time. The navy recommended people stay away from beaches until it suspended the alert.
New Zealand authorities issued warnings of “strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges” along all coastlines of the South Pacific island nation. The government emergency management agency said people should move out of the water, off beaches and shore areas, and away from harbors, marinas, rivers and estuaries. The waves would start arriving late Wednesday local time.
New Zealand is about 6,000 miles (9,600 kilometers) from the epicenter.
The quake was the strongest to hit this area on the Kamchatka Peninsula since 1952, according to the local branch of the Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The 9.0 quake on Nov. 4, 1952, in Kamchatka caused damage but no reported deaths despite setting off 9.1-meter (30-foot) waves in Hawaii.
They said that while the situation “was under control” there was a risk of aftershocks, which could last for up to a month and warned against visiting certain coastal areas.
Earlier in July, five powerful quakes — the largest with a magnitude of 7.4 — struck in the sea near Kamchatka. The largest quake was at a depth of 20 kilometers and was 144 kilometers (89 miles) east of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
Hawaii and Oregon warn residents of potential damage
The impact of the tsunami could last for hours — such as in Adak, a community of about 70 people in Alaska's Aleutian Islands -- or perhaps more than a day, Snider said.
“A tsunami is not just one wave,” he said. “It’s a series of powerful waves over a long period of time. Tsunamis cross the ocean at hundreds of miles an hour -- as fast as a jet airplane -- in deep water. But when they get close to the shore, they slow down and start to pile up. And that’s where that inundation problem becomes a little bit more possible there.”
“In this case, because of the Earth basically sending out these huge ripples of water across the ocean, they’re going to be moving back and forth for quite a while,” which is why some communities may feel effects longer, he said.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said data from Midway Atoll, which is between Japan and Hawaii, measured waves from peak to trough of 6 feet (1.8 meters). He said waves hitting Hawaii could be bigger or smaller and it was too early to tell how large they would be. A tsunami of that size would be akin to a 3 foot (90 centimeter) wave riding on top of surf, he said.
“This is a longitudinal wave with great force driving through the shoreline and into land,” he said at a news conference.
Green said Black Hawk helicopters have been activated and high-water vehicles were ready to go in case authorities need to rescue people. “But please do not put yourself in harm’s way,” he said.
The Oregon Department of Emergency Management said on Facebook that small tsunami waves were expected along the coast starting around 11:40 p.m. local time, with wave heights between 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 centimeters). It urged people to stay away from beaches, harbors and marinas and to remain in a safe location away from the coast until the advisory is lifted.
“This is not a major tsunami, but dangerous currents and strong waves may pose a risk to those near the water,” the department said.
Much of the West Coast spanning Canada's British Columbia province, Washington state and California were also under a tsunami advisory.
A tsunami of less than 30 centimeters (under 1 foot) was forecast to hit parts of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The province’s emergency preparedness agency said waves were expected to reach remote Langara Island around 10:05 p.m. Tuesday and Tofino around 11:30 p.m. The agency said “multiple waves over time” were expected.